Heroin’s spread in Michigan concerns health advocates

By CAITLIN McARTHUR
LANSING — Heroin and related drugs are spreading across Michigan and have become more deadly in recent years, some experts say.
Michigan-wide numbers of unintentional overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999, according to a Department of Community Health (DCH) report. Meanwhile, the number of deaths due to other drugs such as cocaine has gone down, according the report.
Genesee, Macomb and Wayne Counties account for the highest recent heroin and opioid-related death rates, according to the DCH. But the problem is creeping into other areas: DCH data shows Antrim, Manistee, Clare, Hillsdale and Cass counties all recorded opioid-related overdose rates higher than the state average between 2009 and 2012.
A big reason for the increase in heroin overdoses is the overprescription of pharmaceutical opioids — painkillers like oxycodone, morphine and methadone that are chemically similar to heroin, said Pamela Lynch, consultant and therapist at Northern Lakes Community Mental Health in Traverse City.
The state has recently cracked down on “doctor shopping,” or visiting multiple doctors to get more prescriptions. This means hooked patients have to find another way to support their addictions.
“These drugs are very addictive,” Lynch said. “People get addicted to these pills and when they can’t get the pills from the doctor anymore, they switch to heroin.”
The spread of heroin and opioid use across Michigan will be the focus of a public forum next month, with addiction advocates and health professionals saying the increase in use is exposing problems in the state’s approach to addiction like never before.
The discussion, “Silence Equals Death,” is the brainchild of Lauren Rousseau, a professor at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, who said the event aims to raise community awareness of the drugs’ spread and effects.
For Rousseau, the rise in overdoses and deaths linked to heroin use hits close to home.
“A young man whom I was legal guardian of became addicted to this drug several years ago,” Rousseau said. “I battled this disease with him, and sometimes against him, for over a year, and ultimately he died.”
Rousseau said her ward was just 19 at the time of his death. His passing — and his struggle beforehand — broke her heart.
“He was like a son to me,” she said. “There are so many people in his position, and who have been in mine.”
The higher mortality rates, Lynch said, was a direct result of heroin’s progression out into the counties. In 2006, she said, heroin-related deaths centered in Detroit, Chicago, South Jersey and Philadelphia — big cities.
But the problem isn’t just in the Detroit area anymore, said Cynthia Arfken, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at Wayne State University.
Death rates across the state, Arfken said, have increased dramatically, as have admissions to emergency departments.
“Cheap heroin has contributed to the spread,” she said. “When I talk to users, they say they go into Detroit to get the best heroin, because when it is taken out to the counties it is cut.”
The problem with opioids, as compared to other drugs, is that users’ tolerance continues to rise, prompting them to seek more and more of the narcotic.
“Opioid addiction leads to death,” Lynch said. “Other types of addiction do, but not as much as opioids, and not as much as heroin.”
In October the federal Drug Enforcement Administration changed the designation of opioid medication to a schedule II drug, which makes it harder for doctors to prescribe and patients to get.
“Ironically, putting a lid on that problem is now actually driving people to heroin,” Lynch said.
Lynch said Michigan’s response to addiction was improving, though she added it still had a long way to go.
“Addiction has been with us for a long time, and for a long time it has been improperly viewed as a moral issue rather than a health issue,” Lynch said. “This has resulted in pain and misery for countless addicts and their families.”
The state, she said, needs to stop treating addiction with a corrections mindset.
Lynch said one way for the state to address the heroin and opioid problem would be to broaden the availability of a drug known to reverse opioid overdoses: naloxone, also known by its brand name, Narcan.
There have been moves in counties across the state to add naloxone to the kits of emergency first responders. Lynch said this needed to be widened to the state as a whole and expanded to include police, who often beat medical staff to the scene.
A 2014 state law allows families of known addicts in the state access to naloxone, but Lynch argues this is not enough.
Michigan should also have good samaritan laws that provide immunity to people in a drug-use situation who seek help for someone who has overdosed, which could increase the number of 911 calls, Lynch said.
The practice of co-prescription, which would allow naloxone to be prescribed along with any opioid medication, is another step the state could take, Lynch said.
Jennifer Smith, public information officer for the Department of Community Health, said the department had already taken steps to improve its approach to addiction.
The governor recently tasked the department to work with Michigan State Police on identifying risk factors for addiction and addressing them early, Smith said.
“We’ve got a lot of good things going in terms of diversion programs, the health and wellness commission has come out with recommendations,” Smith said. “We are focused on looking at the entire picture and identifying what the real issue is.”

Read Next

By COLLIN KRIZMANICH
Capital News Service
LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder’s fiscal year 2016 budget proposal came on the heels of an executive order that cut $106 million from the current budget, and legislators are now considering slashing $100 million more to address an unexpected deficit. Next year could be even worse, as the state could take in more than a half a billion dollars less than originally expected in 2016.

Related Series

Capital News Services articles may be reprinted exclusively by subscribing media organizations. CNS correspondents cover all aspects of Michigan state government. They come in contact with the important newsmakers of the day, from the Supreme Court justices and the governor to members of the Legislature and the people who run the state government departments, to lobbyists and public-interest organizations. Then they also talk with “real people” — the individual citizens and businesses in communities to get their reactions to what’s happening in Lansing.

One thought on “Heroin’s spread in Michigan concerns health advocates”

Good day I am so thrilled I found your blog page, I really found
you by mistake, while I was looking on Digg for something else, Anyhow I
am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a marvelous post and a all round exciting blog (I also love the
theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all
at the moment but I have saved it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have
time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the excellent work.

About the Spartan Newsroom

News and information from the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Content is produced by MSU students under the guidance of journalism faculty.

In Case You Missed It

https://www.canva.com/design/DACyd0OPp6k/view
As an initiative for recreational marijuana makes its way onto Michigan’s November ballot, city leaders, corporate interests and citizens are far from decided regarding its future in East Lansing. At a recent, discussion-only city council meeting, a representative from the company Weedmaps laid out one vision for East Lansing's future with marijuana.

When it comes to school safety, parent Kath Edsall rarely speaks to her children about the issue. Edsall currently has five children enrolled in East Lansing Public Schools, with three more already graduated, she leaves the responsibility of educating her kids about safety up to the schools they attend.